Red ziggy quilt

Finished quilt top

Here are my left over cut scraps- and this quilt was made using the scraps from two previous quilts. 

I do have some more red but that will become the binding. In trying to figure out the backing I came up with this: 

T + T 

That's for Tanya and Terry. This is for them. A wedding present long late. They were hitched 9.10.11. 

I have started trimming the T's with more black and the rest of the backing will be solid black. 

Previous work on this quilt Here and Here.

As Always,

Augustsnow

Big kid bed

My baby boy is now in a big kid bed! 

Also did some floor painting. 

This section of the floor does not have the original hardwood because of an electrical fire decades ago. It was white before but that was not good because you could see the path we took in and out of the room. Now it is the same brown as the stripe on the wall.

Bedroom Paint Color

 We were thinking of doing two colors in our bedroom; a slate blue and a bluish gray.  Styled like they do in class rooms.  We are thinking 3 down on left card with 2nd down on right card. 

Or a brown.  The brown idea came because we have some art that could go up in the bedroom and it would provide a great base for all the colors of the art.  shrug.  but our bedroom has two walls with nothing to break it up and that might be a lot of brown and could feel to dark.  Was thinking of either of the middle ones.
Augustsnow

Holiday Bears

Christmas Bears

Backing of blue flannel

Pre-Stuffed

Asa with all the bears

My mom had these bears cut out for ever, and the way I remember it is I asked her if she was going to do anything with them and she said no.  So then I had these bears for ever.  While trying to make some sense and order to my sewing table after moving bedrooms I came across the bears.  I didn't start work until 10 so I had just enough time to whip together these little Christmas bears.  

Asa of course had to have all the bears.  Well that is what they are for, playing with.  Later if I wanted I could put some yarn on the back and change them into ornaments.  

Augustsnow

Painting Sarah's new bedroom

I have finally painted the back bedroom. My sister in law lives with us in our three bedroom unit and now we are switching rooms so I asked her to pick a paint color. My husband and I worked on it all weekend. There was quite a lot of puttying to do so it took a lot longer than anticipated. I don't know what the previous owners did to the walls, I think they mounted TVs to every wall and on the others just smashed things against it. Who knows.

Here is the new color. Now we need some new roller blinds and curtain rods. The color is new spring leaves with a touch of lime.  It really helps to brighten the room up and keep it from feeling small.  No worries that outlet is already covered up with a bass cover that matches nicely with the green. 
In fact the bass outlet and switch plate covers is the one item that is consistent through out our home.  I like having an accessory that pulls all the spaces together.

Speaking of accessories.  We have had to replace a lot of the outlets in our unit because the previous owners painted over the outlets.  If you have this in your house or even apartment let your landlord know.  The paint creates a fire hazard and voids the product.  NEVER paint over outlets.  Okay preaching aside, I would love to have black outlets instead of the standard white.  My husband says that they do make them but the expense wouldn't be worth it because they are made for industrial use.  bummer.
Remember when they finally made black fridges and stoves. I'm thankful for that.

As Always,
Augustsnow

Jasmine's quilt #2

The quilt top is now done. I ran out of the dark purple fabric to finish the borders so I got some batik fabric that I thought went nicely. I'll use it for the backing also.

Yes that is a mattress on the living room floor.  We also painted our bedroom this weekend so our stuff is slightly displaced.  But the kiddo was loving the new play space!
I want to do an interesting back, I think I'll do a big wonky cross with a four patch of tiny ones set asymmetrically. 

As Always,
Augustsnow

Ravioli Time

The Ravioli Tally: 

62 Spinach and Ricotta
88 Pumpkin
107 Butternut
63 Sausage and Spinach
64 Mushroom
For a total of 384 raviolis!!

 Welcome to my delicious life!

Cottage cheese

My baby likes cottage cheese. So I thought I would make him some homemade.  It came out great much better then the store. 

I didn't measure the final yield from a gallon of whole milk. Wish I had. Cost wise after milk and time it is better to buy.   Sad to say. Fun though and very tasty.

Jasmine's quilt

Still without the borders.

I ran out of the dark purple fabric so I got some dark purple Batic fabric at my local store. I will use that for the borders and backing. 

Kathe's quilt

Finally finished! Shipped out too. 

Baking your Boiled Eggs

I saw this picture:
With these instructions:

Easy Hard "Boiled" Eggs!
Bake at 325 for 30 minutes. Remove with Tongs and place in an ice bath immediately.

When I do this many eggs I just fill the sink with ice water and place them right in there. Eggs are SO EASY to peel, no sticking!

**Tip: Place them on their side on a mini muffin pan (on their side so the yolks stay in the middle)...mini muffin pan so they don't roll all over
 _________________________________________________________________________

So I tried 4 eggs.  My sister thought the eggs would burst and my husband was sure he was going to have to help me clean up a mess of some kind.

I didn't follow the directions correctly.  I did 350 for 30 minutes and I go this:

Scorch Marks

I will however agree that they were really easy to peel.  Now I have to try it again at 325.
Oh well now I have 8 deviled eggs to eat! YUM

Augustsnow

Sparkle Projects

I got some glow in the dark paint to do up some jars as "fairy lights."  I got the idea from this site: http://frompankawithlove.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/glowing-jar-project-varazslat-a-lakasban-enhu/

I got really fine glitter for the wine bottles and sprinkled it on instead of rolling it.  Rolling it made it thick and thin and clumpy.  Glitter idea found here: http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/wordpress/glittered-izze-bottles

These are two projects that are for a party I'm going to put on this summer.  Shhh, it is still a surprise.

Augustsnow

Civil War Era Dress for my Mom

My Mom is dressing up with her friends in Civil War Era garb for a town event.  She asked me for some help.  Skirts are easy to make so I agreed to make her a skirt and then she could use a blouse out of her closet or from the thrift store for a top.  But the hoop skirt would be a problem.

Because I made my wedding gown I had some left over supplies:

I used an extra petty coat of mine to "turn into" a hoop skirt.  I threaded steel boning through one of the bottom pleats.  It is not perfect in that it doesn't really hold the weight of the skirt but it is what I had.

The Skirt:

We borrowed a corset from a friend.

But then I couldn't help myself.  Why not add a pattern matching nightmare and more work than I really want to do...?  I wanted to do something special for my Momma.  Plus she sat by me and kept me company when she couldn't help with the project.  Also looked after her grand-baby so I could sew.  I did make her sew a blind hem on the bottom tier of the skirt!!  That's 7 yards folks. :)

Bodice with out the sleeves

Sleeves are on

Working on the bodice with my baby on my back

Mom sewing the hem

That is all folks!

Homemade Feta

I made Feta out of 1 gallon of Milk and received 1lb and 10 3/4 oz of Feta.

After cutting the curd

Cooking the curd, see all the extra whey.

Pressing my Feta and drain pan set up.

Does anyone know where I can find a square mold?  I kept my cheese cloth wrapped around my cheese and flipped it 3 times.

Weighing in at 1lb 10 3/4 oz

I brined it whole for 3 days and then cut it into 4ths to help the brine penetrate to create crumbly goodness.
I think I am going to cut the feta into smaller cubes.  It is delicious but still creamy inside.  The creamy-ness is not a down side but I do like the texture it is forming on the outside with the crumbly nature that the brine is giving it.

Pizza

 We tried it on homemade pizza tonight and was rewarded!

Homemade Sour Cream

Okay most times if you make it yourself it is cheaper so therefore worth the effort with yummier results.  This time it is definitely one of those times.
$3 of milk = half gallon of sour cream!
 

Half Gallon of Sour Cream